Indexing Capital Gains Taxes for Inflation

Recently, proposals to index capital gains for inflation have re-entered the public debate. The proposed change would eliminate the part of capital gains that reflects inflation by increasing the basis (i.e., the amount subtracted from sales price to determine capital gains) by inflation occurring since acquisition of the asset. President Trump’s head of the White House National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, has long proposed the indexation of capital gains for inflation through regulation, and Americans for Tax Reform has urged Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to index capital gains. Senators Ted Cruz and James Inhofe have introduced S. 2688, the Capital Gains Inflation Relief Act of 2018, which would index the basis of assets for purposes of the capital gains tax. Similar bills, H.R. 2017 and H.R. 6444, have been introduced in the House by Representative Jack Emmer and Representative Devin Nunes. Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Kevin Brady, has indicated that some discussion of this issue is ongoing.

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